NOVPUB
Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Beaten to the Punch by Your Sexy Mistress Again
The echoes of devotion still lingered from two prayer cycles when Ashu emerged from behind the obsidian effigy. Anna slumped against the Divine Matriarch’s weathered plinth, her ivory skin glistening with residual sanctity.
"Should’ve swallowed your essence earlier," she rasped, tracing the divine sigils glowing beneath her collarbone. "The Matriarch’s Sanctuary Power... it thrums like liquid starlight."
[Anna Kagreia has acquired: Sanctuary Power of the Divine Matriarch +1]
[Critical Return! Vessel has been granted: Sanctuary Power of the Divine Matriarch +26!]
Ashu’s system interface pulsed crimson. "The duality persists - Her radiance quantifiable," he observed, "while Cidi’s corruption seeps through ritual acts."
His calculations materialized in floating runes: 30,000 to 50,000 sessions required to surpass Midaldas’ heretical mastery. At thirty daily couplings - augmented by sacrificial accelerants - the math became bearable.
Anna’s nails scraped his cursed brand. "Why not claim the bishop’s mitre? With Vivita’s endorsement and your Luminous Saint pedigree..."
"Already in motion," Ashu interrupted. "Her courier raven departed at matins."
"Damn that consecrated hussy!" Anna’s laugh echoed through the vaulted nave. "Expect your investiture decree by nightfall. But the real game begins when the Kyle dynasty stirs."
She painted the coming storm with venomous precision: With the mayor and bishop’s thrones vacant, the ancient Kyle bloodline would emerge from hibernation. Their tendrils already choked the town guard and merchant guilds; soon they’d coil around ecclesiastical appointments.
"A puppet bishop rules nothing," Ashu growled. "We need blades sworn to our sigil, not some geriatric clan’s coin."
Beneath the Matriarch’s sightless gaze, they plotted their counterstroke. Let the Kyles play at temporal power - true dominion flowed through the cathedral’s cursed stones.
"Usurping authority isn’t illegal, after all."
"So, do you have a plan? Tell me," Anna asked.
Ashu replied, "Midaldas siphoned off a lot of money during his time in office. That stash can serve as our initial funding—enough to train a squad of Paladins. But the problem is the time investment. We could be looking at years."
Quality over quantity.
Sure, they could throw money around and recruit a ton of fighters overnight, but most would be deadweight—freeloaders burning through military budgets without lifting a finger.
What Ashu needed were elite Paladins. Each one a capable cultivator, and not just low-level fodder. In a real crisis, they needed to be able to step up. Maybe not one-man armies, but at least one-against-ten level.
"To cut down the training time, we’d have to pry the town garrison out of the Kyle family’s grip," Anna said in a hushed voice. "But I’m sure they’re not letting go without a fight."
Right now, the Kyle family controlled the town guard. The law enforcement was a mixed bag, with orders coming directly from the Town Mayor. And as for the auxiliary force? That was privately funded by the Kyles themselves.
In other words, the entire military apparatus of Riven was in Kyle hands. The local Chapter of the Holy Cultivator Guild held only social influence over the townsfolk.
And even that was dwindling—especially after the Kidopriest scandal. The people’s faith in the church had taken a serious hit.
To put it bluntly, the Chapter now operated like a struggling national franchise. The local market was utter trash, and the only thing keeping it afloat was the name brand of the headquarters.
If it weren’t for the treaty between the Guild and the royal family—granting divine authority superiority over royal power—Riven’s Chapter would already be roadkill.
"Midaldas used to rely on cultists for his muscle. He skimmed off funds meant for the people and extorted protection money from cultist cells. He completely corrupted the Guild’s martial wing," Ashu said, his tone darkening. Just thinking about Midaldas made him associate the man with filth. "But then he started purging Cidi followers. I don’t know if he was cutting off loose ends or if he was already hedging his bets elsewhere."
Anna caught the shift in his tone and asked, "You’re thinking of reviving the Cidi faction, aren’t you?"
She hit the nail on the head.
Ashu was thinking about it. He just hadn’t said it aloud yet.
He nodded slowly. "Given my situation, there’s no going back. I’ve already walked this path—why not see it through? I can bring the Cidi faith back, restructured under new doctrine. I’ll be the Bishop of the shadows and the Bishop of the light. If we revise the cult’s dogma—make it stricter, cleaner—I think a reformed Cidi sect could work."
The old Cidi cult was known for live sacrifices and preying on innocents. But tweak the ideology, clean up its image, and it could go legit—turn from darkness to light. It could become an official sub-faction of the Guild.
To that, Anna gave a firm nod. "If it’s something you believe in, I’ll support it. I hated the old Cidi cult because of what they did to you. But if you’re the one leading it, then I can trust it’ll be different."
After speaking,
Ashu lifted his eyes to glance at the Divine Statue of the Divine Mother Goddess.
He was, after all, speaking behind the back of a deity.
But since the Divine Mother Goddess hadn’t said anything against it, that could only be taken as tacit approval.
...
The next day, at noon.
Kyle Family Estate.
The heavily injured Kyle law enforcer lay in bed.
Sunlight shone across his furrowed brow, and as his features twitched in discomfort, his eyelids slowly fluttered open.
"Oh. You’re awake."
A cold, aloof voice greeted him at once.
The law enforcer turned his head toward the voice and saw a noble-looking middle-aged woman seated beside the bed.
Even while sitting, she maintained impeccable posture — regal and poised.
"Sis..."
At the sight of her, the enforcer couldn’t help but smile faintly.
"How long was I out?"
"Oh, about a century or so. And what do you plan to do to repay the mess you left behind?
How about becoming my lowly servant for the next thirty years?"
"Pass."
He made a motion to get up — only to freeze under the withering glare his sister shot him.
"Get up if you’re in a hurry to die," she said coolly.
"As soon as you croak, Mom’ll hand over the inheritance to me.
Ah... imagine it. I’ll be head of the household within ten years. Glorious, isn’t it?"
The law enforcer curled his lips in a helpless expression and turned to look out the window.
He asked, "Sis... what’s going on outside? I promised Mr. Ashu I’d help them leave Riven Town."
"Oh, then by all means, go."
"C’mon, remember when we were kids? Mom wouldn’t give you those sweet cakes you loved so much.
I used to sneak them to you every day..."
"Alright, alright, shut it.
Listen closely.
Our oh-so-glorious Luminous Saint might have taken out that geezer Midaldas.
No one’s seen him since. And by the way — your little fling, Kidopriest? He’s dead too.
Indirectly taken out by our dear Luminous Saint."
Kyle’s face shifted instantly.
"Please, Sis — what the hell do you mean fling with Kido?!"
"Mind your language."
"Fine, fine... wait — you said Midaldas is dead too?! That’s impossible! He’s a Bishop!"
"Did I say he is? Maybe I need to have your ears checked.
Or maybe a cranial scan to see if your brain’s missing a few parts.
What I said... was possibly. Got it? Possibly."
The Kyle law enforcer fell into a long silence.
He had always believed that assassinating the Town Mayor was already a risky enough move, and that he had only been able to pull it off with the support of his family. 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝔠𝔬𝖒
But he never imagined that someone would dare to target Bishop Midaldas. No matter how tainted his background was, he was still a current member of the Divine Cultivator Guild, a Bishop in one of its branches!
If the headquarters came after him, wouldn’t he be completely screwed?
"By the way, you said this Luminous Saint — who exactly is that?" the Kyle law enforcer asked.
His sister, Lirwin Kyle, replied, "Ashu. Your accomplice in murder."
"Ah?!"
The Kyle law enforcer jolted with surprise.
You’re telling me that someone who has never been religious suddenly became a Luminous Saint while I was unconscious?
Isn’t this just some wild dream I had last night?
"Sis, I’m thirsty. Can you get me a glass of ice water? I need to calm down."
Although Lirwin Kyle’s words were sharp, she still got up and headed for the kitchen.
As soon as she turned her back,
he quickly and quietly got up, still dressed in his white hospital gown, and hurriedly ran toward the estate’s exit.
Due to injuries to his chest and abdomen, every step was incredibly painful. Not only was his breathing labored, but every movement of his body also sent sharp, tearing pains through the injured muscles of his abdomen.
However, the Kyle law enforcer was more concerned about the larger situation in Riven Town than his minor injuries. The wounds had already been healed; it was just some lingering pain, nothing life-threatening.
When he finally stumbled to the Divine Cultivator Guild’s branch cathedral, it was much quieter than usual, but it was still operating as normal.
He paused for a second to observe, then took a step forward and entered the church doors.
Inside, everything was calm, as if nothing had happened.
